<span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;">The first vacuum my Mom had when I was born was a '50s Kirby 511. God, I wish I had that machine today! She had it until sometime in the '70s when she got a Hoover Convertible U4005 from K-Mart. That machine was so darned plain (blue snap bag, no headlight, no handle grip) that I actually despised it! Now the only thing I have in my collection that's even REMOTELY close to it in plainness (is that a word?) is my 1020 Convertible. Even though I was still kinda young, I didn't hesitate to let my Mom know that there WERE better choices out there. But, at least she bought a Hoover.</span>
<span style="font-size: small; font-family: trebuchet ms,geneva;">She had the 4005 for almost 15 years, and then she began to get my castoffs -- starting with a Panasonic-made Kenmore Whispertone upright (which broke before it could get into my collection), then going to my Miele Powerhouse Plus S174i Upright and finally ending up with my Windsor Sensor SR12.
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